3 best faces of the youth age group at the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Football Tournament

Starting with a plastic ball

On the afternoon of June 16, football fansLuong landreally happy and excited about the news that Nguyen Xuan Nhat (wearing shirt number 9), a member of the Do Luong Youth Team, was awarded the title of "Best Player" in the youth age group ofYouth and Children Football Tournament - Nghe An Newspaper Cup24th time. This is a worthy reward for this player's passion, training spirit and efforts to improve.

The Organizing Committee awarded certificates of merit and cash prizes to the best players, best goalkeepers, and top scorers in both youth and children's age groups. Photo: Duc Anh

Nguyen Xuan Nhat (born 2009), from Van Son commune (Do Luong), has parents who work in the scrap business. Since the age of 3, Nhat has been passionate about soccer, often looking for plastic balls in the pile of scrap his parents bought to play by himself. Seeing his younger brother's love for soccer, Nhat's older brothers bought new balls to play with him.

When he grew up a little, he followed his brothers to the commune stadium to play football, then participated in tournaments organized by the school, commune and district, leaving a strong impression on the audience of his hometown. This was the place to "incubate" and fuel the passion for football for the boy from Luong.

Nguyen Xuan Nhat's good football playing ability was known by coach Tran Van Son, working at the District Culture - Sports and Communication Center, who created conditions for him to practice and participate in some tournaments for children. However, due to his poor mentality, Nhat could not develop his football playing ability in these tournaments, if not to say it was dim.

Nguyen Xuan Nhat (blue shirt) has many technical ball handling moves. Photo: Duc Anh

“However, I still believe in Nhat’s ball control, skillful technique and speed. Therefore, before this tournament, I boldly put Nhat in the official squad, and in the first match he proved himself,” said Coach Son.

Witness the Team's matchesDo Luong YouthAt this tournament, everyone was amazed by the agility and skillful, skillful moves of striker Nguyen Xuan Nhat. In the tournament, Nhat scored 5 goals and was voted "Best Player" of the tournament in the youth category.

Nhat shared: "This title will be the motivation for me to continue my passion and strive to practice to achieve my dream of becoming a professional player."

The player is always closely followed and marked.

Along with Luong land, football fans of Hoang Mai town also had joy when player Ho Phuc An (wearing shirt number 8) of the teamThe Young Devili became the "Top scorer" - the player who scored the most goals in the tournament in the youth age group. With 7 goals, Phuc An surpassed his opponent Nguyen Xuan Nhat of Thieu Nien Do Luong to win this title.

Ho Phuc An (born 2009) in Quynh Phuong ward (Hoang Mai town), has a father who works as a fisherman, a mother who is a housewife. The house is near the beach, since he was little An followed his brothers to the beach to play football, at first just watching, then his brothers let him play with them. Thanks to that, the boy from the coastal village began to develop the qualities of a football player, first in dribbling technique, then in physical strength and speed.

Ho Phuc An (yellow shirt) is always being fiercely pursued by his opponent. Photo: Duc Anh

Perhaps, playing football on the sand every day with deep running steps and the hot summer has trained Phuc An to move at high speed and have good physical strength. Thanks to that, in 2019 he was selected to join the Hoang Mai Children's Team to participate in the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth - Children's Football Tournament.

This year, Ho Phuc An continues to be in the Youth team and is trusted by the Coaching Board to play the striker position. “Being a striker requires the ability to seize opportunities and quickly kick the ball into the opponent’s goal, especially in counter-attacks. To do that, you must always be faster than the opposing team’s players” – Phuc An shared.

Ho Phuc An (yellow shirt) is a well-rounded player with good physical strength, high speed, skillful technique, especially the ability to sweep when counter-attacking. Photo: Xuan Thuy

According to Coach Ho Huu Tien, An is a well-rounded player with skillful techniques, especially the ability to sweep when counter-attacking. The 7 goals An scored in the season have confirmed that. On the field, An is always closely followed by the opposing team's players, outside the field the coach instructs "Tightly mark the number 8".

Like Nguyen Xuan Nhat, Ho Phuc An hopes to continue pursuing his passion for football in the future and become a professional player. This is not too far-fetched, as An has caught the eye of scouts.Song Lam Nghe An Club.

In two words: "Definitely!"

Football fans of Luong land have 3 joys, the first is that Do Luong Youth Team won the championship.Champion, Nguyen Xuan Nhat won the "Best Player" award, followed by Vo Hong Quan being awarded the "Best Goalkeeper" title.

Coach Tran Van Son said: “With Vo Hong Quan, I can only sum it up in two words: “Definitely!” Because when guarding the goal, Quan does not show off fancy movements or beautiful acrobatics, but is always calm and confident to handle situations in the most effective way.”

Goalkeeper Vo Hong Quan always brings peace of mind to the coaching staff and teammates when guarding the goal. Photo: Xuan Thuy

According to Coach Tran Van Son, every time he takes the field, the coaching staff and his teammates are always confident when Quan protects the goal. Even when the goal is in trouble caused by the opposing team, Quan always finds solutions to resolve it. Because this goalkeeper from Luong has accurately predicted many situations, chosen the right landing point and handled it promptly.

Thanks to that, in this tournament, Quan only conceded 5 goals, contributing significantly to bringing the home team to the Championship. Notably, in the penalty shootout in the final match against Thieu Nien Hoang Mai, Vo Hong Quan excellently blocked 2 shots from the opponent, bringing victory to the home team.

The joy of goalkeeper Vo Hong Quan when Do Luong Youth Team won the Championship. Photo: Xuan Thuy

It is known that Quan has an older brother who is in college and participated in the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth and Children Football Tournament.

Since childhood, Quan dreamed and determined to follow in his brother's footsteps to be in the official team to compete with the players of other districts. This year, Quan's dream has come true, and he was even more honored when he received the title of "Best Goalkeeper of the tournament", adding more joy to the team and fans of Luong.